LONDON — Li Ning, China’s leading sports apparel-maker, is collaborating on a collection with up-and-coming designer Chen Peng that will debut at New York Fashion Week, part of a larger strategy aimed at giving the mass brand a more elevated, edgy appeal.
This is the second fashion collaboration this year for the athleticwear giant that was founded by the Olympic medalist of the same name. It was less than a month ago that Li Ning showcased its first fashion collaboration with Chinese men’s brand Pronounce during London Fashion Week Men’s.
For Li Ning, fashion associations mean business. Ever since the brand first presented its fashion collection in New York last January, it has met with a positive market response. Sales were up 17 percent in the first half of 2018.
The company’s market capitalization is at seven-year high and 67 percent larger than a year ago. The share price was 10.26 Hong Kong dollars, or $1.31, before the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed for Chinese New Year on Feb. 4.
Feng Ye, general manager of Li Ning’s e-commerce unit, said the latest fashion collaboration falls under the newly launched division Counterflow, which focuses on streetwear and Chinese pop culture. “It has a more premium price

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MILAN — Emilio Pucci has tapped Giorgio Presca as its interim chief executive officer, WWD has learned. He succeeds Mauro Grimaldi.
“I needed someone with expertise, and he is a real expert in turnarounds, and knows the fashion business,” said Sidney Toledano, chairman and ceo of LVMH Fashion Group.
Presca started last week, and Toledano charged him with analyzing the business and producing recommendation about the Florentine brand’s future positioning and organization. Controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton since 2002, the brand has experimented with a variety of designers including Christian Lacroix, Matthew Williamson, Peter Dundas and Massimo Giorgetti of MSGM. Pucci is now designed by an in-house team.
Presca was previously ceo of Golden Goose Deluxe Brand, which he had joined in March 2017, exiting in September 2018. His arrival at the buzzy sneaker label coincided with the completion of the acquisition of Golden Goose by the Carlyle Group, and he was tasked with structuring the organization and growing its business globally. Golden Goose is now helmed by Silvio Campara and chairman Patrizio di Marco.
Presca previously held a similar role at the Italian footwear company Geox, which he joined in 2012.
The seasoned executive has worked in fashion for 25 years, with roles including ceo of Citizens of Humanity;

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One could all be yours thanks to global marketplace Private Islands, Inc.

Developed for newer riders, the 77 hp bike is ideal for both the daily commute and backcountry.

Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson have built a restaurant that’s both familiar and fresh.

These clothes spark joy… and won’t waste your time.

It is hard to believe anything Tomo Koizumi says.
How a Tokyo-based costume designer gets plucked from Instagram last month by Katie Grand, who offers to style a runway show at Marc Jacobs’ New York store, sounds like the wind-up for a joke. The fact that he set out to be a junior high school art teacher only makes their last-minute plans more baffling and impressive. But it is all true, true, true. By Tuesday morning, Koizumi was jet lag-free in Jacobs’ SoHo offices and 24 hours later he was up for an interview in the airy downtown space.
Surrounded by racks of the voluminous kaleidoscopic-colored designs he brought from Tokyo, Koizumi took a break from steaming, while his sister Yuka and a friend kept at it. To make the journey to New York, all of these confectioneries had somehow been stuffed into the three slightly battered boxes that were stacked in a corner. However jack-in-the-box that might sound, Koizumi described packing like rolling up a sleeping bag. “Yeah, it’s a bit extreme. But it is very light,” the 30-year-old said.
“I’m still not sure I’m in the fashion industry,” he said flatly.
“You might feel it at seven o’clock Friday night,” Grand said laughing.
Echoing

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Veronica Beard wants to get its ready-to-wear collection on the backs of more women.
For spring, the brand will begin offering extended sizes in about 20 percent of its collection, and for fall that number will grow to 75 percent. Previously, the sizing went from 0 to 12, and the company introduced sizes 00 to 14 for pre-fall 2018, 00 to 16 for resort 2019, and now with spring 2019, it is rolling out 00 to 24.
The extended sizing will  be offered Feb. 11 on its web site, five freestanding stores, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and 11 Honoré.
”We have been talking about this for a couple of years now,” said Veronica Swanson Beard, founder and co-chief executive officer of Veronica Beard. “It all stems from Veronica and I are sisters-in-law, and we really look at this business like a sisterhood — the people who work for us, our team and a lot of dear friends…The whole thing is reaching all women through whatever we’re doing, whether it’s design, through our content, VBGB [Veronica Beard Gives Back]. We just felt we kept falling short for a lot of friends and people we love and admire. My mom couldn’t fit into our 12’s, and

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In WWD’s last day of designer inspiration coverage, references range from quirky, like Vaquera saying, “Those pants say it all — let’s dance. And put on your red shoes!” to Lela Rose’s more metaphorical statement: “Fashion Goes to the Dogs.” Click through the gallery to see exclusive sketches from Carolina Herrera, Cynthia Rowley, Dennis Basso, Jill Stuart, Boss and more.

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